Meeting notes for SLUG 12 Apr 2010

[Benjamin Scott]

  Approximately 8 people attended the SLUG meeting on Mon 12 April
2010.  The loosely planned topic was "Hacking Waves".  Rob took us
through several of the challenges and digressions he faced when trying
to get PyGoWave to work.  Once he reached the end of that, we segued
into a live debugging session, trying to finish making it work.  While
ultimately unsuccessful, we made some progress.  I rather suspect the
complexity and difficulty involved in this reflects poorly on
PyGoWave.

  One of the most troublesome components to get working was the
turboencabulator.   A turboencabulator is intended to be capable of
automatically synchronising cardinal grammeters.  Basically, the only
new principle involved is that instead of the power being generated by
the relaxive motion of conductors and fluxes, it is produced by the
modial interactions of magneto-reluctance and capacitive directance.

  The original component had a base-plate of prefabulated amulite,
surrounded by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the
two spurving bearings were in direct line with the pentametric fan,
the latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzelvanes, so fitted
to the ambifacient lunar vaneshaft that side fumbling was effectively
prevented.  The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type
placed in panendermic semiboloid solts in the stator, every seventh
conductor being connected by a non-reversible termic pipe to the
differential girdlespring on the 'up' end of the grammeter.

  Forty-one manestically placed grouting brushes were arrranged to
feed into the rotor slip stream a mixture of high S-value
phenyhydrobenzamine and 5 percent reminative tetraiodohexamine.  Both
these liquids have specific pericosities given by p=2.4 Cn where n is
the diathecial evolute of retrograde temperature phase disposition and
C is the Chomondeley's annual grillage coefficient.  Initially, n was
measured with the aid of a metapolar pilfrometer, but up to the
present date nothing has been found to equal the transcetental hopper
dadoscope.

  Electrical engineers will appreciate the difficulty of nubbing
together a regurgitative purwell and a superaminative wennel-sprocket.
 Indeed, this proved to be a stumbling block to further development
until, in 1943, it was found that
the use of anhydrous nagling pins enabled a kyptonastic boiling shim
to be tankered.

  The early attempts to construct a sufficiently robust spiral
decommutator failed largely because of lack of appreciation of the
large quasi-pietic stresses in the gremlin studs; the latter were
specially designed to hold the roffit bars to the spamshaft.  When,
however, it was discovered that wending could be prevented by the
simple addition of teeth to socket, almost perfect running was
secured.

  The operating point is maintained as near as possible to the HF rem
peak by constantly fromaging the bituminous spandrels.  This is a
distinct advance on the standard nivelsheave in that no drammock oil
is required after the phase detractors have remissed.

  Undoubtedly, the turboencabulator will some day reach a very high
level of technical development.  However, it has yet to be
successfully used for operating nofer trunnions.  In addition,
whenever a barescent skor motion is required, it requires a drawn
reciprocating dingle arm to reduce sinusoidal depleneration.

	*   *   *

  Most of the above text was adapted from [1].  The "original" YouTube
video[2] is highly recommended.  These were introduced during the
debugging process as comic relief, in response to some rather
grandiose description on the RabbitMQ website.  I thought it might be
amusing to post this, since it will probably make most readers feel
the way we did after a few hours of trying to figure out PyGoWave and
all its components.

  This also gave me an idea for party game: People try to read the
text of [1] straight-faced, without laughing, stumbling, or omitting
anything.  When someone makes a mistake, they pass to the next person,
who starts over.  First person to make it to the end wins.  (To avoid
paying out, have it so that each time someone makes a mistake, they
take a drink.)

[1] http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ids/dotdot/misc/jokes/turboencabulator.txt
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag

-- Ben